Parks, Malcom R.; Roberts, Lynne D. The Social Geography of Gender Switching in Virtual Environments on the Internet. 1999. http://web.mit.edu/21w.784/www/BD%20Supplementals/Materials/Unit%20Two/Security%20Privacy%20Identity/gender%20switching%20online.pdf.
In Parks and Roberts book, they express how people possess freedom to build their identities in electronical environments. Internet’s anonymity allows people to escape being categorized according to age, race, sex, sexual preference, etc. which face-to-face interaction stereotypes. Parks and Roberts explain what gender switching actually is, which people are most likely to swap genders via internet, and why gender switching is popular or more prominent over the internet. Parks and Roberts came to the conclusion that people gender switch because they are curious and/or are gender swapping with cyberspace protection to eliminate social prejudices and ridicule.
Ross, Michael W. Journal of Sex Research. “Typing, doing, and being: Sexuality and the internet.” CBS Interactive Inc. 2009. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2372/is_4_42/ai_n15929179/.
Ross describes in his article how internet sexuality relates to social predispositions and social interactions. He writes about how the internet has become a place where thoughts of sex or actual cybersex occur with minimal control and regulation. Ross points out that this lack of regulation attracts people because they do not want the public to judge them for their sexual curiosity or sexual repertoire. People’s personas on the net that experiment with sexual behavior are not directly linked to the user themselves, so they can sexually interact with others without the stigma of being perverted.
Sleek, Scott. The APA Monitor Online. Volume 29. Isolation increases with internet use. September 1998. http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep98/isolat.html
Sleek designed his article about how increased internet use increases isolation with a story about a clergyman. He explained how with our new internet culture the clergyman was spending more time in forums talking with colleagues about his sermons and social issues. But as the clergyman realized, this extra time spent on the computer was isolating himself from his family. Sleek’s main point in his article is the technology that has allowed people to keep in closer touch with distant family members and friends, to find information quickly, and develop relationships with people from around the world, is ultimately replacing vital day-to-day human interactions.
Hermida, Alfred. BBC News. “Young challenge mainstream media.” May 3, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4962794.stm.
Hermida explains in his article how our society and especially how our youth are changing our mainstream media to a more internet-based media. About 10 years ago when asked where people got most of their information from, people would answer: the television. Now with increased tech-savvy individuals, people are moving away from traditional news outlets, which are now basically irrelevant to their lives, and turning to alternate sources to shape their view of the world. This alternate source is the internet. Hermida provides graphs and statistics of people moving away from previous mainstream media and expresses the frustration of the jobs in this traditional media, because they are being pushed out of business and their professionalism is being questioned.
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Lyons, Charles. abcNews. “Creating a New Self on ‘Second Life’”. August 31, 2007. http://abcnews.go.com/icaught/Story?id=3547108&page=1.
In Lyons’ article he argues, using Second Life as an explicit example, that people create a new or idealized self with the ease of a click of a button. This new self has the potential to look, talk, or act different from the users actual self. Lyons explains how to actually create an avatar and use Second Life. He then talks about a woman, who is a mother, who’s alter ego comes out in Second Life and how the “diva comes out after the kids are asleep”. Lyons also taps in how people’s idealized self aids them into forgetting about the real world and real life problems (segway into my double lives pages). Finally Lyons talks about how people with social imperfections “improve” themselves to better find them a mate, because in real life their social anxieties about social prejudices take over.
Beith, Malcolm; Bennett, Jessica. Newsweek. “Alternate Universe”. July 30, 2007. http://www.newsweek.com/id/32824.
Beith and Bennett’s article describes how Second Life and the internet allow for people to live two completely separate lives. Their article, similar to Lyons’ article, talks about how different people use Second Life to express an alter ego. People are no longer seeing Second Life as a game, but as reality. The internet provides anonymity for people to live their alter ego life. Beith and Bennett explain how people coming to Second Life are not just socializing but are doing business, collaborating on research, dating, and having sex. In this way the internet is providing people with nearly all facets of reality, so when people get engrossed with their internet life it is difficult for them to jump back into reality.
Porter, David. Internet Culture. Routledge, 1997. http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zmMLSZJPXoIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=%22Porter%22+%22Internet+culture%22+&ots=3fHKQCfOl3&sig=b9jLIDvhhXEd7UY6bhZyYDILGK8#PPR7,M1.
Porter’s book provided me with an overall understanding of how much the internet really affects our culture. Porter helped me talk about every page on my website, providing me with the conclusion that the internet’s anonymity and the internet’s ability to socialize on a grand scale is what makes it so attractive to its users and why it is replacing mainstream media. Porter explains how the internet encompasses a larger community that is less daunting, prejudice, and more welcoming than the reality that people face daily.
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